Answers about Jesus

How much power does Jesus have?

This question does not have a straight forward answer. If by “power” you mean “authority” (i.e. freedom to exercise his own will), then Jesus has as much freedom as God has given him. Jesus says “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18). God is still God, but God [...]

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Was Mary from the tribe of Judah or Levi?

We know that Mary’s relative Elizabeth was from the tribe of Levi: Luke 1:5 Zechariah, of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Luke 1:36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the [...]

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Why did the disciples ask Jesus about his coming when they didn’t expect him to leave? (Matt 24:3)

As [Jesus] sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” (Matthew 24:3) It is true that the disciples did not seem to understand that Jesus had to [...]

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How is it possible to purify your inside by giving all of it to the poor, when your inside is greedy and wicked? (Luke 11:39-41)

This passage can be difficult to understand at first sight, and it is not helped by some rather clunky translations. Let us try and unpack what is going on. Jesus condemns the Pharisees for being like a dish that is clean on the outside but dirty on the inside. That is, when you looked at [...]

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How many wise men came to see Jesus?

The Bible does not specify how many wise men came to see Jesus. Since there were three gifts given it has often been assumed that there were three wise men (one per gift), but there may have been many more. See Matthew 2:1-12.

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Is Jesus inferior to God the Father? How do you understand the following verses in terms of their relationship? 1Cor 3:23; 1Cor 15:24,28; Phil 3:21.

Jesus says “the Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). That seems pretty clear cut. The key phrase in 1 Cor 3:23 is “Christ is God’s” It expresses the idea that Christ belongs to God, in the same way that we belong to Christ. There are other verses we could turn to but the principle [...]

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Why did the Jews become angry at what Jesus said in Luke 4:16-30?

In this passage, Jesus was visiting Nazareth, the place where he had grown up.   Everyone knew who he was and who his family was, and so they were amazed at how well he spoke.  However, it seems they also expected him to do some powerful miracles to show that he really was important, and [...]

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What language did Jesus speak?

Jesus probably spoke three languages: Aramaic, Hebrew and Greek. Aramaic The common language of Galilee during the time of Jesus was Aramaic. It was an ancient Semitic language related to Hebrew. Although Jews had spoken Hebrew as their main language up to the time of the captivity, Aramaic became the dominant language after the captivity. [...]

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What happened to the bronze snake Moses used to protect the Israelites?

When the people of Israel were being bitten by a plague of snakes, God told Moses to make a bronze snake as an antidote: The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”  So Moses made a bronze snake [...]

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What did John mean when he said “‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me”? (John 1:30)

John the Baptist said this when Jesus came to be baptised: The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he [...]

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